This invention relates to methods and systems for utilizing rich-media for the creation of Internet websites and other applications via the Internet.
The Internet is a rapidly expanding interconnection of computers that allows people from around the globe to interact. Internet users seek to gather information, purchase products or services, and entertain themselves by creating websites or accessing websites maintained by others on remote computer systems.
Traditionally, website designers created websites using the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). HTML is a language used for representing in computer code the various components of a website. Initially, only website designers fluent in HTML could create websites for other users to access. As more people began to use the Internet, designers demanded quicker and easier methods for producing websites so that they could create, for example, attention-grabbing websites for companies seeking to engage in commerce over the Internet.
In order to solve this problem, software companies designed pre-packaged programs capable of more quickly producing graphics-intensive websites. Products such as SUN Microsystems' Java® and Macromedia's Shockwave Flash® allow designers to create websites that entice Internet users to visit them. Programs such as Microsoft's Visual Basic® provide website designers with the ability to create websites more quickly by allowing designers to create websites graphically instead of by coding primarily in HTML.
As a result of the advent of Java®, Shockwave Flash®, and other rich-media tools, as well as Visual Basic®, expert website designers have formed businesses for the purpose of creating websites for others. Knowledge of these programming tools is now a requirement for website design and has made website design increasingly more complicated. The average Internet user does not currently have the knowledge, ability, or tools to create a graphic-intensive website in other applications using rich-media.
Restricting website design to experts alone constrains the rapid development of new high-quality websites for two reasons. First, the number of Internet users who may design high-quality sites using rich-media technologies is limited. Second, the arduousness of designing a polished website even for an expert developer limits the overall throughput of designs for website-developing companies.
A need exists for a tool allowing developers to create rich-media websites and other applications in a more efficient manner. Furthermore, a need exists for a tool allowing individuals who are not skilled in expert design tools to produce visually appealing websites and other applications. Finally, a need exists for a tool allowing anyone who wishes to design a high-quality website or other applications to do so via the Internet.